FloorPlanOnline continues to offer additional features and functions to its tours and single property websites…without charge. Real Estate Agents may now check a simple box and an automated process creates and posts a YouTube video of the listing online into the FloorPlanOnline YouTube Channel. It’s very simple to use – just use our normal video editing tools and save your changes. In addition, we also create a video file that can be used to upload into your Realtor.com Showcase listing.  For now, this is something you must do as Realtor.com has no automated process for tour companies to handle this job for you.

More adventurous Realtors may opt to select different music, type in captions for each photo and edit photos to create a more personalized YouTube video. In order to take advantage of the new YouTube & Realtor.com tool – FPO customers should log in and edit their linking profile by checking the box to include the linking to the FloorPlanOnline YouTube channel.  Then just make sure it is selected on the order as you place create a new tour.

This new tool works on all new tours created as of Monday, Aug 30th 2010. Click here to view an example video on YouTube or just play the sample below:

As with most enhancements and improvements to FPO tours, there is no additional fee for this feature.  Other companies charge up to $20 or more.  This feature is even available for our low cost, self service Photo Tour at $29.  As long as your tour is active, including tours that have been renewed, you can create a video file and have the video uploaded to YouTube.  Please read our FAQ below for more details on how to create a video file.  Additionally, word from the FloorPlanOnline development department is that further options and YouTube related tools are being tested and tweaked for launch before the end of the year.

Why should you link the tour to YouTube, or Realtor.com?  More online exposure.  Most people are not going to YouTube to search for properties.  In fact, according to the most recent NAR statistics, less than 1% of buyers in the survey sited YouTube as a source for online content.   Realtor.com was one of the highest websites, however.  However, putting the video on YouTube can help with search engine optimization…so your tour gets found, and you get it sold!

To learn more, just click on one of the FAQs below to read more details (click again to hide the detail). Please also complete the poll to help guide our future development of this feature.

Do you Create a video for YouTube & Realtor.com?

Yes! As of August 30, 2010, we automatically produce a video file of our Virtual WalkThru Video and automatically upload the video to the FloorPlanOnline YouTube Channel. It is an exact replica of the video, including music, transitions and any text you may have added to the video scenes. There is no upgrade request - it just happens!

How do you add YouTube Videos to your account? The only thing you need to do is login and go to Edit Profile, then select the Edit Linking Info button and check the box for the FloorPlanOnline YouTube Channel linking option under Automated Website Distribution Service. Then save at the bottom. Once the tour is approved, the video will be uploaded within approximately 24 hours or less. As part of the video on YouTube, we include a link to the complete tour, the marketing description, and the contact information of the marketing representative.

As an added bonus, we also provide the video file for download under Marketing Materials. Just click the link under Marketing Materials and then select the Download Video button. You can use this file to upload to your own YouTube channel, or use it to upload into your Realtor.com Showcase listing (note - Realtor.com does not allow us to upload the video file to them...so something you must do). You can even use a third party program, such as the Windows DVD Maker included with Windows 7, to burn it to a DVD.

We provide 3 file formats. For YouTube, any version should work for uploading.
- Download AVI File - good for Windows Media or Windows DVD Maker
- Download MP4 File - Windows or Apple users
- Download MOV File - QuickTime video file for Apple users

What happens if I change the video or I want videos for my older listings?
If you change a video, a new video file will be created and added to your account under Marketing Materials within 30 to 60 minutes (the actual time may vary based on the size of your video and other videos that are concurrently being processed). To create a video file for past listings, just login, go to Manage Orders and then FIRST select the Edit tour link, then the Edit Property Details button, scroll down to the bottom to the Link To Website area and select the option to link to the FloorPlanOnline YouTube Channel. Save. Then, select the Edit Tour link for the listing in question. Then select the Edit WalkThru Video & Photos button, then just select the Save & Close button (or you can do some edits if you'd like). This will queue the video for rendering, and it will show up in your account under Marketing Materials.

How do I upload a video to my own YouTube Channel?

If you would like to take the WalkThru Video we create as part of the tour and upload it to your own YouTube Channel, please follow the below steps.

1. Download the video file.
Login at www.floorplanonline.com.
-If your tour was created after August 29, 2010, go to Manage Orders and select the VIEW link under Marketing Materials. Then select the Download Video button. You have 3 file types...anyone should work for uploading to YouTube, but we suggest the first option, AVI file.
-If your tour was created before August 30th, you first need to generate the video file. Any older active tour can have a video file created. To do this, from the Manage Orders page, select the Edit Tour link for the tour, then select the Edit WalkThru Video & Photos button. Select the Save & Close button...and this will then queue up the video for rendering. Once the video has been rendered, the video should show up under Marketing Materials, generally within 30 to 60 minutes...but it could vary based on how many other videos are concurrently in process. So check back later under the Marketing Materials section, then download the video file to your computer.

2. Upload the Video to YouTube.
-If you do not have a YouTube account, create one first. We suggest you create a channel for your business so you can separate personal from business videos.
-Login to your YouTube account. When you get to YouTube's homepage, click the "Upload" link on the top of the screen. Click the "Upload Video" button then fill in the required details of the Video:
We suggest title (street address), add the tour link first so it will show - www.seetheproperty.com/xxxxx or the vanity domain, description, category, your contact info, tags.

You can fill in the Broadcast Options - Date, Map Options, Sharing Options.

Select a category. We post our tours under the Entertainment category. The other option is How to & Style. There is no real estate option at the time of this writing.

Then select "Save".

Congratulations....you just uploaded a video to YouTube.

Marketing Materials - Features

Your marketing materials, such as your flyer and your virtual tour links, can be found in the Marketing Materials area of our Order Management System. Follow these steps to get there.

- Log in to your account, then select "Manage Orders." Select the "View" link under the "Marketing Materials" column which brings you to the Marketing Materials menu. This menu is slightly different depending on what type of tour you ordered and if you have customized your online flyer.

Here is an overview of your options:

- VIEW TOUR. You can view your tour here.

- TOUR LINKS. Branded and Unbranded links appear here for approved tours. Use these links to add your tour to your MLS, to forward the tour to other agents and to the seller.

-EMBEDDABLE OBJECT. You can use this tool to put both the floor plan part of the tour and the video into your own website, a blog post, etc. Many company sites now allow you to paste in embeddable code. This is similar code to a YouTube video embed code. Check with your IT help desk to make sure it will work. You can configure the object to show a button to the full tour, change the button and text colors, etc. It is a great tool to make the tour a more seamless part of your own website or blog.

- SAVE TOUR to PC/BURN a CD. Select this option to save your tour to your PC or make a CD of the tour.

- FEATURED LISTING PAGE. Select this option if you want to see and/or copy the special website address we create for you that lists all of your active tour. You can also add a button to your website of emails to promote all of your FloorPlanOnline tours.

- DOWNLOAD PHOTOS. Select this option to save the photos to your computer. You have options to download a "zip" file of all photos, in different sizes, or download individual photos in different sizes. If you are downloading the zip file, how you do this depends on the type of operating system you are using (Windows vs Apple) and whether you have installed any third party file zipping program (like Winzip) or not. Normally, you click the button to download the zip file - after several seconds, a window should appear that has icons on it. Look for a menu option that says EXTRACT ALL FILES or something similar - click that, find a place to save your photos on your computer, such as My Pictures, and walk through the steps.

- DOWNLOAD FLYER. This option opens a smaller PDF of the flyer, which is the same version found on the tour when you click the Print button.

- DOWNLOAD HI RES FLYER. This option appears if you requested to save a High Resolution Flyer when you edited the online flyer in the Tour Editor function. Select this option if you want to save the High Resolution Flyer to your computer.

- DOWNLOAD FLOOR PLAN as PDF or JPEG. Select one of these options to save the floor plan to your computer.

- DOWNLOAD HI RES FLOOR PLAN. Select this option to save a high resolution floor plan to your computer. Individual files are provided for each level.

- VIEW INVOICE. Select this option to see a copy of your invoice for this tour. There is a date stamp for different charges and all charges associated with the tour are shown on the invoice. This can include tour renewals that happened in a different year.

That’s FloorPlanOnline – Simple, Effective and Affordable.

You can easily showcase an area just with photos, or if you have a map you would like to use, you can make it an interactive map tour. Click Here for an example of an Area Tour created by the first official customer of FloorPlanOnline in the US, Linda Cone of the Cone Team. See more of Linda at www.KansasCityLifestyles.com.  Note – we provide both a widescreen version of the tour and a portrait version.  By default people get the widescreen – except some users with a very narrow screen will get the portrait version.  In this case, I think the portrait version works good for a map tour…so I used that.  Just change the 1 to a 0 to see and use the portrait version at the end after ws=  http://www.seetheproperty.com/presentation_v2/presentation.php?order_id=8606&mode=branded&ws=0  We will be adding some Map tour types in the future…but for now, you can work the system this way.

To see a tour with the Area Tour (and a lot more Additional Resources), click here.

How do you add an Area Tour to your tours?  It is simple.  First, just create a new tour for the area you would like to showcase.  To create a self service Area Tour with photos, it is just $29 for a year of hosting.  Just select the tour option for Photos only.  To add a Map, select the FloorPlan and Photos option.  That is just $59 for the first year to create the map and tour, and then $29 a year thereafter.

One you have the Area Tour, just login, go to Manage Orders and then click the Edit link under Order Form (or Edit Tour then edit Property Details).  Scroll down to the section where it says Content Display Options.  Under the Additional Resources column, select the +Add Custom Resource button.  Then just type in text for how you want it to show on your tour, and then the link to the Area Tour, such as www.floorplanonline.com/8606 (or www.seetheproperty.com/8606 works too).  Then select the button to add it.  Just make sure the box is checked for this Area Tour, go to the bottom and save.  For your next tour, this resource should be checked.

If you service different areas, you can add multiple area tours, and just select the one needed for your particular listing.

Also, you can use the Additional Resource tools to add links to your website, your blog, your MLS search page, and more.  The more you put links back to your website, the more “Google Juice” you get…and we both get.  Just check out the link above to the listing with the Area Tour for an example.

• Lower Price – signs are now $10.40, so with shipping, you can get a sign for around $20.  We do not make any money on the sign….so you save at least $10 a sign.  Plus, since we are no longer the “merchant” there is no sales tax.
• Higher Quality – we have narrowed the material choice to a new Duraplast material which is a solid plastic sign that is similar to wood.  No more corrugated plastic!  It is a very nice, solid material and will stand up to a lot of weather.
• More Customization – now, you can pick from different templates and customize the sign EXACTLY to how you want it.   You can upload an image of the house, of you, or just have a direct link to the virtual tour. You can also pick different sign sizes and colors. How it looks is up to you and they have an easy to use online design tool.  You can save your initial design and then reuse it for different tours in the future.

The new process might take a few more minutes, since you will need to enter your shipping and billing info with Abettersign.  But you can save your information by creating an account.   Overall, we think you will be much happier with the end product at a great price, and that is what matters most!  If you want to save even more money, get a few signs with www.FloorPlanOnline.com/_____  and fill in the blanks with numbers that can be resued.

Why get a sign rider? According to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2009 report, 59% of respondents quoted the Yard Sign as an information source used frequently or occasionally.  Of course, 90% said the Internet was used as a source!  We provide a basic mobile tour for every listing….so let people see some basic info while they are driving by….which can lead them back to you!  Plus, it can save on printing costs with flyers if they can get the basic stuff at the “point of browsing” without a piece of paper. And did I mention, it is greener too!

To place a sign order, just select Order Now once you confirm a new tour order, or go to Manage Orders, and click the “view” link under Tour Upgrades, then the Order Now button for Sign Riders.  A new web page will open to ABetterSign.com and you can create your new sign!

In addition, we added two printable one-page handouts on FloorPlanOnline under Tools>Marketing Downloads.  One is for the Seller that you can leave as a handout and the other is something you can print out and hang up at your office.

Agents that have incorporated the FloorPlanOnline Marketing System into their listing presentations often get the listing – EVERY TIME!  It can help demonstrate to the Seller that you know how to market a home, and in the most important place – ONLINE.  After all, 96% of buyers in the key buying group use the Internet to search for homes.  Don’t let your seller’s home be left out!

If you do not see a version for you company, just let us know and we can try to customize something for you.  Just use the form below or on the Listing Presentation Template page.

FloorPlanOnline Direct Message image on Twitter

There is a second way to send a Direct message that may make the process more easy to use. From your twitter page, click “Direct Message” on the right side of your screen. You will see the words “Send _______ a direct message”. A drop down box at the top of the screen that allows you to select individuals from your Follow list. Select their name and enter your message, then click “send”.

Following all your direct messages can get a bit tricky using the simple but effective built in Twitter tools. To manage my twitter Ive been using Tweet Deck or @tweetdeck. Its a quick Download at http://www.tweetdeck.com/ that allows you to view messages in movable columns. I follow my DM’s in one collum, my mentions (where someone includes @fpo in a message) in another and then can track trending topics or conversations in several other columns. Tweet Deck allows for easy to follow DM tools. Simply mouse over the avitar (photo) of whom you wish to DM, look for the envelope icon (it is the icon for a DM in Tweet Deck) to pop up and click it.

Try posting your FloorPlanOnline Tour to Twitter using the blue “T” button at the bottom left of the tour. Send a DM with the tour link to the seller, so they can share the tour link on twitter with their network!

If you would like to test your new DM skills, Tweet a direct message Hello to D @FPO
Tweet ya later!

Edit Transition tool

1. Try to keep the video under 2 minutes. 1-2 minutes is ideal.  This means if you have a video with 5 seconds for each photo, a 2 minute video will be 24 photos.  Most people will not sit through a 4 minute video.

2. Adjust the time sequence of photos. Did you know you can change how long a photo shows during the video?  Just go to Edit Video from the Tour Editor menu (Manage orders>Tour Editor>Edit Video) and then select Edit Transition on a photo.  The default time period is 5 seconds per photo.  If you want a faster, more upbeat video, change it to 2 or 3 seconds.  You can even apply the time sequence to All Photos and then adjust a few more important photos to show for a longer period (see screen shot at right).   For an example of a video that speeds it up, click here.

3. Add text to each photo to help explain the scene. Just select the Edit Text button at the bottom of each photo to add a photo name and add a text description.  The name shows in the photo gallery view, the description shows on the video itself.

4. Select Different Music. We have over 200 song choices across different genres.  We are working to add more music with some vocals/more Indie type feel. You can change the music under the Music Selection section on the Edit Video page.  Stay tuned for more music …

Can I use my own music from CDs I own? Short Answer: NO. Long Answer: We currently do not allow you to upload your own music – the reason is copyright issues.  All songs are copyright protected.  ANY use of a song in a real estate “For Sale” tour would be considered for a “commercial purpose” and therefore subject to copyright laws. If you have not properly licensed music, then you would be in violation.  EACH violation can have both actual and statutory damages….statutory damages run $750 PER occurrence. Read more at the US Copyright Office.  So, it is not worth the legal risk…to you or us.  Also, to license a top artist’s song is prohibitively expensive – thousands of dollars.  Therefore, we have to license music from stock music libraries and royalty free sites.  ALL of our music on the tours has been properly licensed.   At some point we may allow you to find and license your own music and upload it to your account…but we will require proof of a valid license.

We are working to add more improvements to the video part of the tour, including larger/crisper photos, ways to create a real video file with uploads to YouTube, and some new music.   We welcome any comments you have by sending us an email using the form below.

Thanks for reading…
Kris Cone

1. Agent Posted Listings
2. Office (Broker) Posted Listings
3. National Office Posted Listings
4. MLS Posted Listings
5. Virtual Tour Company/Other Syndicator of Listings

So, as a virtual tour company, we are put at the bottom, and rightfully so.  The Office (Broker) or national company should have the most up to date listings along with your branding information (name, logo, contact info, etc).   If an MLS posts a listing to one of these national real estate sites, it will likely not have your info. PLUS, if they do include a virtual tour link, it is likely the unbranded virtual tour that does not have your info on it.   If we as a virtual tour company post the linking, it is not synchronized with the MLS, which can cause problems.

We can help.   If your broker or company needs help doing listing syndication to various sites, we have a team of technical experts that can help.   We could even do some of the development for you.   Also, it is important to include as much information as possible in your feed, including any virtual tour links.  I know in talking with Zillow, you can include virtual tour links into the data feed to them.   Ditto for Google Base.

-Cheers,
Kris Cone

Get Connected, Stay Connected is about getting you and your business more exposure online, where 90% of people search for homes. Today, being online is as important, if not more important, than putting a sign in front of the house. You can leverage the power of social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and others to connect with your network, extend that network, and maintain the connection.

In addition, the coaching service will teach you about other sites you really should be using and how you can become a local expert in your area. Many agents are not putting 100% of their marketing efforts online, and decreasing their costs dramatically, while increasing their overall business.

To learn more, just complete the email request below and Chris will follow up with you to schedule your first coaching session.
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With the FloorPlanOnline Marketing System, we can GET you More Listings and Make you More Money. Here’s some ways how.

1. Get the listing every time. The more listings you have, the more you make. Our agents that showcase the FloorPlanOnline system at listing appointments typically walk away with the listing, in many cases, 100% of the time! You can use this generic listing presentation and download to your computer as a PowerPoint (ppt) file, or make a copy (File, Save as) and edit it and print it out as a PDF file.  Click here to download this template.

2. Register and use the Demo House as a tool at your nest listing appointment - after all – if all the buyers are online, shouldn’t you show your sellers you are too?

3. Consider using a “Menu of Services” approach to help you manage commission erosion (i.e., show your 3 levels of commission with what services the seller gets for each level, with the FPO presentation being at the highest level!! It works!)

4. Utilize “See Interactive FloorPlan” in all your marketing venues. We know from experience that people are intrigued by this term and that your use of this term throughout all your advertising and marketing will help drive traffic to your websites. Then, once you’ve got them there, the FloorPlanOnline concept will keep them there longer. And, isn’t it your experience that, “The longer they are there (whether physically or virtually), the more comfortable they become with the notion that this might be the right property for them!“

5. Email the Tour – Use the Email Tour feature to send the unbranded tour to a database of showing agents whom you want to see your listings. Have the seller send the branded version to their sphere of influence asking them to help sell their home by forwarding it to anyone they feel might be interested in seeing their home. And, send the branded version to the buyer after the closing congratulating them on their purchase and suggesting that they forward it to all their acquaintances so they can also share in the joy they are experiencing. Each tour has an email tour button. Click it and copy and paste your email addresses into the “To:” field on the form.

6. Flyer Creation and Printing. Our Enhanced Flyer Templates allow you to add a creative touch to simply and quickly create stunning property flyers. Print them yourself or use an online printer.

7. Neighborhood “guerilla” marketing. Use the Offline Tour and burn copies of the tour to CDs. Distribute it to neighbors of the seller (or have the seller do this). Also, give extra copies to the seller to distribute to at least 25 people they know. Chances are they may have friends that want to move right in! You can even create a self promotion tour and use that for mailbox campaigns.

8. Buy a Vanity Domain Name & Sign Rider. Create a truly custom website for the property with the tour link as the property address. For example, www.111AnyStreet.com goes to a virtual tour! With the street address as the name of the tour, it will also be easier to find via search engines.   Add a sign rider so drive-by buyers can get right to the tour content using their mobile devices! Just go to Manage Orders, then click the view link under Tour Upgrades to buy a Vanity Domain and sign riders.

9. Be the local expert. Create a Basic (do it yourself) area tour and add it to your listings under the More Info section on each order from. You can also put separate links to your areas tours on your website. Whether you create a simple photo tour or a more detailed Interactive FloorPlan tour with a plat map, subdivision map or area map, it is a great way to showcase an area. Add a vanity domain to make it really pop! Like www.oxfordct.info. Get your chamber of commerce to use it for their business too!

10. Feature Your Listings. Each account comes with a Featured Listing Page that has all of your approved tours on them. Add this page to your website and email tagline (like Click here for my current listings). You can even buy a vanity domain, such as www.hometeamct.info, to make your Featured Listing page a mini website of you!  Just go Manage Orders, then click the “view” link under Marketing Materials for your featured listing page button.

11. Open House Tools. Bring your laptop to the Open House and have the tour playing. Print off Flyers and FloorPlans and burn the tours to CDs for those that visit the property. They make great handouts, it is inexpensive marketing for you and will make a very positive impression on everyone. Remember – the Internet, referrals, yard signs and open houses are the primary means for getting new clients!

Bonus Tip…Closing Gifts. Give a lasting memory to the buyer and seller by burning the tour to a CD. Oh, it also gets your name and number in front of them…

Order today, or call us at 866-810-3816 or send us an email.